Thoughts of a 2-week-old Daddy

After almost two weeks of hiding in the house, I finally resumed some of my regular activities at the end of the past week. My colleagues and friends were excited to find out how I have been during my absence, especially since I got promoted to daddy during that time.

My answer to them was that it was a very exciting and wonderful experience, but at the same time, I also experienced stress, fatigue, worry and such. It was a mixture of many intense emotions.


I can still remember the moment when I first saw my baby Jia En. It has become one of those vivid memories that got framed and displayed along my memory lane. I was waiting outside the operating room for Pei Tze and the baby to come out. I didn't want to fall asleep as I was afraid that when they come out, they would just go by and miss me. However, the more I tried, the sleepier I got. So after 40min or so of struggling to stay awake, I fell asleep. The next thing I knew was I heard someone calling out my wife's name. I jumped up, and in my half-awoken state, I saw a nurse standing beside a baby cradle. Something in me told me that the baby in the cradle was my baby! I started walking towards the cradle, but that reality still didn't settled in my mind. I was thinking to myself: "This is so surreal! This baby is my baby!"

To be honest, I feel silly that I felt that way then. And to think that I have prepared myself for that day for 9+ months. I guess seeing and touching and holding made me realized things I never realized before. I felt very amazed that there was now another human being that was so deeply related to me.

I stayed in that moment of overwhelming emotions for quite a while. So long that even when my wife came out of the operating room some 30minutes later, I was still seen grining from ear to ear....hee...time definitely stood still for me that day.

Bonding time with papa...

hmmm... my papa has a big head. no wonder i hear people calling him datou

papa learning to bottle-feed me

trying very hard to keep awake... my expression macam a bit constipated hor?

a nice burp and...

ahh.... satisfied liao... thumbs up for papa!! :)

Presenting... Cleopatra!

Jan's favourite sleeping pose

Things only babies can do without getting scolded

They can sleep, poo, pee and be fed all at the same time!

Not to mention that they can be bathed while sleeping too!

Such are things that only babies have the privilege of doing...

p.s. maybe that's where you start getting training for multi-tasking... a skill important for survival in S'pore...

More testimonies

Just wanted to share some testimonies of how God had been good to us even through the birth of baby Jan.

After I was back in the ward, the gynae came by to congratulate us and told us that the cord was actually around the baby's neck! That kind of shocked me and found the reason why baby's heartbeat was fluctuating so much! It kind of felt like baby telling us that she can't wait anymore and pressed the emergency bell to get out soon.

The next thing the gynae told us was he found a fibroid and took it out for biospy. The results came back during my next review and it was non-cancerous.

Thank God for everything!

Mummy's version of the labour story

Life has never been the same again since the arrival of Jan. I had to adapt to a whole new lifestyle as a milking cow on demand - literally. My schedule is centered around when she would wake up for her next feed. When she goes off to sleep, I will be checking emails, blog, eat my meals or just zzz. Never gone through such severe lack of sleep before, even when I was mugging for exams in my uni days. Hmm...

Anyway, here's my version of my labour story... (with slightly MORE details)
At around 0410hrs, while turning to sleep on my left, I suddenly heard a "tiak" sound. It got me a little worried and the first thought that came to my mind was, "Is that the water bag?" Sure enough, within seconds, I felt water leaking out and I got out of bed almost immediately, fearing that my bed would become a "water bed" . Water started flowing out and I went to the toilet. Trying to regain my composure, I called out to Ming Fai and surprisingly, he did wake up! We gave our gynae a call and he told us to go to the hospital first and he would see us at 9am.

Still quite in a state of shock, different thoughts came to my mind.
- I had a lot of work to clear (RFQ, review specs, handover...) before I was supposed to go on my planned maternity leave on 18 Jun
- my mum hasn't really moved in yet
- I can't have baby's birthday on 20.06.2007 (scheduled caesarean date)... =P
- Too sudden, felt quite unprepared in a way with the reality of parenthood setting in
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After grabbing my hospital bag from baby's room, I was still sane enough to pick out a bedsheet for baby's cot and hopefully my mum can get the cot ready when baby comes home. We then went downstairs to catch a cab to Gleneagles.

While in the cab, I could feel the contractions coming and also corresponding pain in my back. Upon arrival in the hospital at 0450hrs, we went to get ourselves admitted and walked to the labour ward. The midwife then got me to change into the hospital gown and strapped me on the ctg. One thing that puzzled me was why the baby's heartbeat seemed to fluctuate quite a bit - it was 130 and then 150 the next half a minute or so. I was abt 1cm dilated and had contractions every 4 mins. The midwife then asked me if I want the gynae to come earlier at 0730hrs or 0800hrs instead. Not being sure how much worse the pain can get since I didn't want any pain relief, I opted for 0800hrs.

I felt apprehensive when they wheeled me into the operating theatre, especially since Ming Fai couldn't be with me as I would be on GA due to my slipped discs problem. I prayed that everything will go on smoothly and was looking forward to baby's arrival. My gynae came in and said,"Told you baby can't wait right?". I could only smile at him. The anaesthetist then jabbed me, gave me the oxygen mask and I was away in lala land.

After a while, I could hear someone calling my name. I tried to regain consciousness and asked the nurse next to me how the baby is. "I don't know" was the reply. It got me worried. I looked around and then realised that I was in the recovery room and the nurse probably didn't know why I was there in the first place. It was already 0915hrs.

As they wheeled me out of the recovery room, I saw someone grinning from ear to ear walking towards me. It was Ming Fai! He just looks so elated and that settled my heart. He told me that the baby is ok and we were going back to the ward.

Soon after, the baby was brought to my ward for feeding and even before I saw her, I could hear her sucking away! True enough, she was sucking the back of her hand. One look at her and I can tell you - it's all worth it! =)

A testimony of God's gracious gift

Ps 103:3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases
Ps 103:5 who satisfies your desires with good things

These few verses actually reminds me of God's gracious gift to both Ming Fai and me even as we watch baby Jan grow day by day.

I was first diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) just 1 mth before my wedding in Jun 2005 and the doctor said it would not be easy for me to conceive. It is a sub-fertility condition and boy was I devastated! I had to be on medication for a few months to regulate my condition. Thank God for my best friend, Andrea, who was there to comfort me. She told me that children are a blessing from God and nothing is impossible for Him. Ming Fai was also very understanding and gave me lots of reassurance and emotional support.

I remembered the disappointments when we first started trying for a kid and after a few months, we decided to really commit it to God. Family and friends around us kept asking when we were going to have a kid. My standard reply then was "When God blesses and in His timing". We tried for almost a year and just a mth before we were going to seek help, I conceived! God has indeed satisfied our hearts' desires =)

Ps 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children

I want to claim God's promise that from everlasting to everlasting, His love will be with those who fear him and his righteousness will be with my children's children. I pray that God's blessings will flow from generation to generation and Jan will be a testimony of God's grace to people around her.

How to spot a hungry baby

After attending life's college of parenthood for one week, we have learnt how to spot a hungry baby. We would like to share our experience with would-be first-time parents should that they can save themselves the many evils of hungry babies =P

All babies start off looking extremely harmless. When they are soundly asleep, it is hard to imagine the amount of damage they can do..haahhaa...don't be deceived.

The next stage of development is when they wake up. They will begin to fidget and stretch; occasionally, they open their eyes. This is a good time to start preparing for the feed, though sometimes it might end up being a false alarm. But with a careful eye on the clock (calculate how long since the last feed), experienced parents can satisfy their babies before the milk frenzy go out of control.

If you want to wait some more, you can wait for the more definite sign of hunger: the slurp'ering tongue. You will see the baby sliding his tongue in and out, and sometimes as if he is tasting the air. Some babies will also open their mouths wide and use them to search around, as if a candy is dangled right in front of them. This is your last chance to catch the baby in a managable state...




















Uh oh...I warned you...

Arrival of Jan!

Jan was supposed to come on 20 Jun, but she couldn't wait to see daddy's & mummy's face, so she broke the waterbag and sent them running to the hospital at 4am... =)

Left: Mummy waiting in the labour ward for the doctor to arrive. Also one last look at her with the big stomach!

We got to the hospital about 10 minutes before 5am, and in less than 4 hours, baby Jan was delivered! So baby Jan's birthday is 15th Jun, 8:10am. She was middle-weight at 2.955kg, but tall measuring 53cm.

Above: Daddy waiting eagerly outside the operating room

Left: Baby Jan!

Seeing baby Jan was an amazing feeling. I was overwhelmed by the realisation that this baby was my own child! Even though she had been in pt's tummy for 9+ months...somehow that realisation still struck me hard. I was also overwhelmed by the thought that this baby is very closely related to me...in a way that is different from that with my parents or siblings...but she's a new life that miraculously bears some of my resemblances.

Jan's chinese name is "Jia En", meaning excellent grace. We gave her that name as we saw her as God's amazing grace towards our family--a blessing from God. And for the christian name, we wanted one that sounds and means similar to the chinese name. We played with names such as Jean, Jayne, Grace, etc. Eventually, we settled for Jan, which means "the Lord is gracious".

The following few days were introduction to parenting classes for me and pt. Well...I guess it was more for me than for pt, 'cos she was already pretty good with babies. =)


After a few days at the hospital, we were finally ready to bring Jan back home! A larger task awaits us at home--to rework our lives and schedules so that we can take care of this new member of our family. It definitely feels daunting, so we will need all the advice and support we can get.

Left: A useful photo for answering the classic question-who does the baby looks like?